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Shield
/ | special = against all Ranged Attacks, Thrown Attacks, Breath Attacks, and direct-damage spells. | item_defense = | item_resist = | item_movement = +1 +2 | item_enchantments = | artifact_defense = | artifact_resist = | artifact_movement = +1 +2 +3 +4 | artifact_enchantments = }} :This article is about the Magical Item type called "Shield". For the icons representing defensive strength, see Defense. A Shield is a type of Magical Item which can be equipped on any Hero possessing an appropriate slot. The bonuses on the Shield will enhance that Hero's performance, particularly his/her defensive properties and movement speed. As with any Magical Item, Shields can have a total mix of up to 4 different bonuses and/or Item Enchantments. Shields differ from other armor pieces thanks to a bonus which applies against any direct-damage attack except Melee Attacks. In this respect, a Shield is a good armor piece for Heroes who generally prefer to stay away from Melee combat range. As with any other items, Shields can receive Item Enchantments that alter the Hero's properties - particularly giving additional immunities and/or better survivability. Description A Shield is little more than a large piece of sturdy material held in a warrior's hand, which that warrior may place between him/herself and an incoming attack in order to block that attack. Workable shields date back at least 3000 years. Large shields are meant primarily to block incoming arrows and other projectiles, and are more of a liability in hand-to-hand combat due to their size. Small shields, often known as "bucklers", are more handy for deflecting blows in melee. In Master of Magic, all shields are assumed to be of the larger variety - giving cover from enemy attacks executed at some range. Unless enchanted with additional defensive properties, the shield gives no benefit during actual melee combat. The Basic Item The Shield is one of many possible Magical Item types in Master of Magic. Magical Items can be Crafted by a wizard (tailored to the specific needs of a Hero under the wizard's employ), or found as rewards for defeating a suitably-dangerous Encounter (in which case the item already has a set of pre-defined bonuses). Any Shield can be equipped on a Hero, if said Hero possesses this slot: : Armor Slot Most Heroes possess this slot - only specialized mages do not have it (they get an additional "Jewelry" slot instead). As long as a Shield - any Shield - is equipped on a Hero, that Hero receives the Large Shield ability, displayed in the Hero's details panel. This ability confers a bonus, but this bonus only applies against the following types of attacks: * * * * * * Any kind of spell delivering direct-damage. Whenever any of these attacks strikes the Hero, the Large Shield ability allows that Hero to make two extra rolls, potentially blocking up to . The exact amount of extra Damage blocked by the Shield depends largely on the Hero's current score. You'll note that Melee Attacks are conspicuously missing from the above list: the Large Shield bonus does not apply against such attacks in any way. Also, the Shield does nothing against , since these bypass armor completely. Finally, most Special Attacks will ignore the Large Shield bonus, since they require the target to make rolls instead of rolls. Crafting a Shield It is possible to create a new Shield (like any other Magical Item) using the Item Crafting process. This is initiated by casting either the Enchant Item spell or the Create Artifact spell, though there are differences in the potential strength of the new Shield depending on which spell is chosen. During Item Crafting it is possible to select a Shield as the type of Magical Item being created. This sets the default cost of casting the item-crafting spell to . Once the Shield is selected, the Item Crafting menu will show all bonuses and Item Enchantments that can be imbued into it. Click the desired options to add them to the weapon, or click a selected option to remove it. Regardless of which item-crafting spell was selected, a Shield can only take up to 4 different bonuses and/or Item Enchantments - just like any other item in the game. Each additional bonus will increases the value of the item by a set amount. The more powerful the bonus or enchantment, the more it raises the item's value (see list below). An item with higher value costs more to create, and thus may take more than one turn to complete. When Crafting, Shields have some advantages and some disadvantages over other types of armor - the Chainmail and Platemail. Compared to Chainmail, the Shield gives a slightly-better Defense bonus ( vs. ), but not against Melee Attacks. The Platemail defense bonus of is strictly better since it applies in all situations, but Platemail costs a lot more to craft than a Shield. Thus, Shields are particularly suitable for Heroes who intend to stay away from Melee combat range, thus providing cheap protection from such attacks. Warriors who plan to get up-close and personal with the enemy will likely want either Chainmail or Platemail. Finally, if is no object, Platemail is always superior to a Shield. Enchant Item The Enchant Item spell limits the strength of the bonuses that can be imbued into a Shield, and also the types of Item Enchantments that can be added to it. Available Bonuses Available Item Enchantments Create Artifact The Create Artifact spell allows Shields to be imbued with much more powerful bonuses and/or Item Enchantments. Certain limitations still apply, based mainly on the type and number of Spellbooks you possess, and the amount of you wish to spend on creating the item. The Create Artifact spell is not inherently more expensive than Enchant Item, it only allows purchasing more expensive bonuses and Item Enchantments. It is possible to create the same (low-value) Shield with both spells at no extra cost. Thus, if Create Artifact is available, there is no reason to use Enchant Item at all. Available Bonuses Available Item Enchantments Acquiring a Pre-Defined Shield The game data files contain 250 items that were designed by Simtex - each with its own pre-set name, bonuses and/or Item Enchantments. 25 of these items are Shields. There are three different ways by which you can acquire one of these pre-defined Shields: * By winning a difficult Encounter. * By purchasing it from a traveling Item Merchant. * As result of a random Event called "The Gift". It is often better to acquire items in this way, as it means you do not need to spend any time or to create them. However, since the offered item is chosen at random, and since all 250 items have pre-defined bonuses and enchantments, you may or may not receive an item that's really suitable to your needs. Furthermore, many of the pre-defined items possess Item Enchantments that cannot legally be added to them via Item Crafting. Shields as Treasure Whenever an Encounter zone of sufficient difficulty level is cleared of its initial defenders, the winning army may receive a Shield (or any other Magical Item) as a reward. The game may select (at random) any item whose total value does not exceed the remaining treasure points given by the Encounter. Thus, the more difficult the Encounter, the more potential there is to receive a high-value item. If the selected item's value is significantly lower than the remaining treasure points, the game will try to select additional rewards (possibly more items). Shields from Item Merchants Item Merchants have a certain chance to appear at the start of any overland turn. This chance is primarily influenced by the wizard's current score. When the roll dictates that a Merchant should appear, the game selects an item at random from the entire list of all 250 pre-set items. Item Merchants will only offer the selected item if the wizard has 3 times as much as the value of the item itself. Charismatic wizards need only 1.5 times as much as the item's value, since they pay half-price for any item. If you lack sufficient Gold at the start of the turn, the Item Merchant will simply not appear this turn. Shields as Gifts Finally, an Event called "The Gift" may occur at random at the start of any overland turn, bestowing a Shield (or any other Magical Item) to your wizard, for no cost whatsoever. This event can choose any of the 250 pre-defined items, including any of the 24 available Shields. List of Pre-Defined Shields Below is a list of each Shield present in the default game-data files. The ItemMake program which is supplied with the game allows users to alter the list of pre-set items at will: you can change any of these items (within the same constraints as those of a Create Artifact spell), add new ones, or remove existing ones from the list. Therefore the list below may or may not match your game-files. Category:Magical Items Category:Shields